Roasted veg "flower" tart

Tools

Stand mixer helps a lot, or food processor with a dough hook attachment

Rolling pin

Loose bottom pie tin (mine is 24cm)

Blind baking beads, or equivalent. Rice can be used if needed

Ingredients

Pastry (GF)

250g GF plain flour

1x egg yolk

cold water

125g cold butter, small cubes

25g Gruyere, finely grated

Salt

Filling

1x Aubergine

1x Courgette

1x Parsnip

Pesto

1x sweet potato

Olive oil/the oil from sun-dried tomatoes

herbs (basil, oregano, sage)

100g Mascarpone

To serve

Gruyere, grated

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Method

Pastry part 1

1. Put all the flour in a big clean bowl, add the butter cubes and work them into the flour with your finger tips. It will start to come together and resemble breadcrumbs. Combine all the flour and butter together

2. Add in the cheese and mix well

3. Add the egg yolk and start to stir it up with a spoon

4. Add it to a processor set to go pretty slowly

5. At this point it will be super powdery and will not want to form clumps. Add cold water bit by bit until it starts to clump. Don't over water it though, or over work it. It's a hard balance to find, takes some practice

6. When all the dough is happy to stick in big lump, wrap it in cling film and stick it in the fridge for about 20 mins min

Now to prep the veg (use a very sharp knife for this)

1. Get a big pan of heavily salted water on the hob and bring to a good simmer

2. Think about the veg you have, and the depth of the pie casing. The veg should be taller than the edge by about 5/10mm

3. Prep the veg so that when cut into slices they will be the correct height

4. Proceed to cut the veg into ribbons, about 2 to 3mm thickness is ideal

5. Add the veg to the simmering water, you may need to do each type of veg by itself depending on the size of pot. It's hard to say how long to cook the veg for, depends on lots of factors. What you want to do is soften it, but not too much.

6. Spoon from the water and let it drain in a colander, leave to cool. Taste to check the flavour, this will alter the oil topping

Pastry part 2

1. Pastry should be ready to roll now, flour a surface and roll out the pastry. I went for 4mm thick

2. Grease (butter) the pie tin and then lay the pastry into it. Be careful here to not tear it or over stretch it, or over compress it. All these things lead to inconsistent pastry. Don't worry about trimming it too much

3. Put it in the fridge and let is chill for about 10 mins

4. Preheat the oven to 200C

5. Scrumple some non-stick paper (this make it more flexible) then lay this into the pastry. Add baking beads and oven for 15 mins ish

6. Remove the baking beads and cook for another 5 mins, until brown and the edge bits have a good snap to them

Assembly

1. Mix together the pesto, mascarpone, and gruyere together. Spread this across the base of the pie

2. Next get a slice of each vegetable and make a stack then roll them up, this forms the central "flower" petals. Place this in the middle of the pie on top of the pesto layer

3. Make another stack of veg (in the same order) and wrap it around the first one. Repeat this until the pie is filled or you have run out of slices

4. If there is any space left fill it with leftover mashed sweet potato

5. Make up an oil brush of the oils, salt (salt according to the taste from earlier), herbs and any other seasonings. Use an egg wash brush to cover all the veg

6. Return it to the oven for 30mins ish, or until the veg is cooked through

Best served hot with some grated gruyere on top and a tangy side salad (and some prosecco)